


Fur School

by Darpellet



Series: Fur School [1]
Category: Fur School
Genre: Finished for now, Furry, I'm starting a story and the fandom that may come with it, Multi, Original Character(s), Original Fiction, The story is for all the characters, i don't know what will happen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-24
Updated: 2020-10-06
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:54:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 14,252
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23824903
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Darpellet/pseuds/Darpellet
Summary: This is a story in a world I created, the characters are furries, art for it can be found on my twitter @Darpellet.
Series: Fur School [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1716634
Comments: 4
Kudos: 8





	1. Welcome to Fur School!

**Author's Note:**

> This chapter is made up of mostly explanations. Things will get more interesting during the second chapter. Older readers might notice some diferrences on the chapters, they have been updated and improved.

It was already morning, more specifically 8:00. Susan woke up and even though she was still sleepy, got up and readied herself for the probably most important day of that year. When she and Siyabonga finished breakfast, they hugged their parents, picked up all their stuff, exited the apartment and walked to the school that would be the everything in their lives for the near future.

When they got there, the place felt impressive even though they had already been there to do the test. It was a massive campus with a few main big buildings which were the dormitories and the “school”, that being where classrooms and teachers’ lounge could be found. Other than those, there were also other buildings and areas, such as: the gym, the cafeteria and many others.

The two asked a wolf guard where was the auditorium and ran to where she told them since the meeting with the new students was going to start in five minutes. When they arrived, the meeting was about to start and the place was almost full, so they ended up sitting far from each other. Everyone who was there looked as weird as them, but two students stood out more than the rest: a very tall female spotted hyena with punk clothes and piercings and a male moon bear who had a sports team jacket and was even taller than her. They were staring intensely at each other as if they wanted to fight.

Everyone was having a bit of small talk until the lights suddenly went off and the screen projector turned on. At that moment the place went quiet and a short black, white and yellow bird appeared on the stage with a microphone and a laser light. That bird was the school director and owner, his name was Francis and he was a great tit. He got the microphone closer to his beak and started the introduction meeting by saying:

-Welcome my dear students! I’m happy that all of you are present right now, for the next hour I’ll be explaining how this place works and to telling you all about how your lives here will be.

The students looked at one another, most of them confused over how excited the director seemed, but a few felt more awake because of his loud cheerfulness. He then proceeds by saying:

\- As all of you know, I’m the director of the school and it’s my responsibility to explain and control how it works.

\- But first, as tradition goes, I’ll must tell you about the creation of the school.

As soon as he said that, almost all the students let out a sigh of disinterest, but he continued:

-(cough) Well, as I was saying. I created this school so I could give a home, a place of comfort for young adults who have been rejected or mistreated. Also, to give a chance to those who have been deemed useless or hopeless by society. But not only that, also a chance to learn what skill gives you happiness in life and how you can hone it and make the world just a little better with it. Even if this place isn’t perfect, I hoped and still hope that your lives would become at least a little better by living here and developing yourselves.

\- All of you have reasons to have been accepted here, almost all different, but reasons nonetheless. 

He makes a brief pause, looks at all the students with a slightly sad face, then cheers up again and continues:

\- Since this place is a campus, you’re all going to live in the dorms with your roommates. All the rooms have been equipped to make the students in each of them comfortable, varying based on their species.

\- During the first two months, you’ll have to live with your assigned roommates. They will be chosen based on species and gender, with only a few exceptions. If any of you are dissatisfied, there will be a week after those months where you’ll choose who you want to have as roommates and everything will be reorganized after that. You will have a break and be sent home during the rearrangement period.

\- You must not forget that everyone listed has to agree with who they’re staying with and all combinations will be allowed as long as everyone is comfortable.

After he says this many students get extremely nervous while others get just as excited, since some of them were already friends.

\- Now I’ll explain your routines: your classes will start every day at 10 so everyone can sleep well, then you’ll have lunch from 12 to 1 p.m. and go back to class, which will end at 4.

\- During lunch break you are allowed to eat and relax for a bit wherever you want, be it the dorms, the cafeteria or an outside restaurant. All is well as long as you’re back in the classrooms by 1:10 at most.

All the students seemed a bit happier after hearing this. The director continues:

\- Now I’ll explain how physical education works here. All of you will have classes of all the sports we have also during the first two months, that will be done so we can find the sports each one excels at or is at least comfortable doing. The ones that end up in neither of those groups will go to the base class, which only has light exercises and stretching.

\- The trial months only exist so we can make sure everyone is comfortable and so we can find new athletes to participate in the school games. Having great results during those games can get the attention of the major sports teams and lead you to being chosen by them.

One of the students was almost jumping out of his chair in excitement, he was the ariranha/small-clawed otter hybrid.

\- Outside of sportive events, the school also has the creativity event. During it, all grades must choose an activity that is fun or relaxing and that can include the other two grades.

\- All the final ideas will be executed as long as they’re doable and not extremely dangerous, outside of that, the only other limit is price. There are no other limits, you can do what you want.

Everyone starts talking loudly and discussing ideas. The director gives them about five minutes, then asks for silence and continues:

\- We’re getting close to the end, so please pay attention to everything I say from now on.

\- Some of the rules of this school are: you’ll never receive more than 30 minutes worth of obligatory homework per day, the minimum grade to not be held back is 50%, some of your grades will be determined by group projects, which can be individualized if the student is incapable or uncomfortable with working in groups.

\- Almost all assignments have finding the skills of each student as their goal, since doing that, training those skills and making your lives happier are all goals of this school.

\- Now I’ll tell you the final rules and you’ll be free to get your dorm rooms ready and relax for the weekend so your school year can start.

A few students were almost losing their patience and two of them were already angry, those being a maned wolf and a musk deer.

\- First of all, you all have behavior grades that go from 0 to 100 and that grade will be changed based on what you do, be it something really good or very bad. You’ll be taken to   
my room and the situation will be discussed, based on the explanation and judgement that varies in each case, the grade might go up, down or stay the same. Also, for every week that nothing bad happens with a student, their grade will go up by 4 points.

\- If a student’s grade gets to 20, their parents will be called so that we can discuss and help with whatever is happening, but if it gets to 0, they will be expelled. It’s everyone’s duty to report to me if something important happens so it can be addressed and to treat all their colleagues well.

\- And without further ado, WELCOME TO FUR SCHOOL!


	2. Hyena Time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Starting here, you might notice that species names don't exactly fit with the real ones. Location based species names will be avoided, but the real species that a character fits in will be seen in their ref sheet.

When the director finished there was a row of applause, all the students picked up their stuff and exited the auditorium. Almost everyone got excited with the speech and decided to chat with others while heading to the dorms. Though unexpectedly, a surprise waited for Siyabonga and Susan. 

They had just walked out of the building when he recognized someone and screamed at the top of his lungs:

\- Wamuiru is that you?! (Siyabonga)

The hyena turned her head with a shocked expression and yelled:

\- Siyabonga? What are you doing here? (Wamuiru)

Both ran in each other’s direction and traded strong hugs, with Wamuiru lifting the albino lion in the process. After a few seconds of hugging, they let go and she started talking:

\- I never expected to see our little snowball again! Is everything going well in life? Is your new family treating you well? (Wamuiru)

\- They’re really cool but are kind of strict with us sometimes, but what I really wanna know is how you got here. (Siyabonga)

\- The director is our new dad, so he got us enrolled here. (Wamuiru)

\- Us? (Siyabonga)

After he asked that, a raccoon and a rat appeared next to her and Susan finally arrived next to him.

\- Do you know these guys? (Susan)

\- Don’t you remember? They were from the same orphanage where you and your parents found me. These three were pretty much my family back when I was there. (Siyabonga)

\- I think I remember now, but the hyena certainly changed a lot. (Susan)

\- Hey, dumbass! Did you forget you’re supposed to call others by their names? If you don’t get it right next time, I’mma start calling you a runt! (Wamuiru)

\- Okay, okay. I’ll get it right from now on, but we should all introduce ourselves first. (Susan)

\- Then I’ll start this bullshit. I’m Wamuiru, the spotted hyena.

\- My turn. I’m Siyabonga, the albino lion.

\- And I’m Susan, the melanistic snow lynx. I hope we can be friends, even after a first impression like this one.

\- Hey, you little void ball! Don’t forget us here. I’m Frantz the raccoon and this quiet guy is Krish the rat.

After the introductions, Wamuiru gave both of them a bop on the head and scolded them:

-Why can’t you even introduce yourselves right? Are you too dumb for that? (Wamuiru)

-(Both) Sorry.

Be prepared for backstory. The conversation wasn’t going so well, so Siyabonga decided to would ask something to make the awkwardness go away:

\- So, how was life for you guys while I was out? (Siyabonga)

\- You have no idea of how much it went to shit. (Wamuiru)

\- A few weeks after your adoption, the place got robbed and they couldn’t take care of us for much longer. The owner opened a donation campaign to try and recover and so the children would be taken before the place broke, since that would probably end up happening. Many of the cuter ones got adopted, but no one wanted the three of us. (Wamuiru)

\- I didn’t expect to hear something so sad. (Susan)

\- Shut up, I’m not finished! (Wamuiru)

\- When we were the only ones left, we got our stuff and started living on the streets, since we would be dumped there anyway. We would usually survive by stealing stuff at night and got kind of good at it. Frantz is the one who would mess with cameras and locks, Krish could enter and escape small places easily and I would stay on guard and protect them whenever something happened. (Wamuiru)

\- So that’s why you got so buff. (Siyabonga)

\- Yeah, there is another reason, but I don’t wanna talk about it now. (Wamuiru)

\- That’s okay, you don’t have to open up completely. (Siyabonga)

\- There’s more, about how we got adopted. After a few years of doing that, we found an orphanage who was hiring, so we asked if we could work there and have a chance of getting adopted ourselves. We stayed a few months there while receiving half a minimum wage each, since they took care of us. One day the director entered the place and noticed we weren’t old enough to be working there, so he asked if he could adopt us and now he’s our dad and treats us well. (Wamuiru)

\- Well, at least you can relax after all that suffering. (Siyabonga).

\- True, but now I have something important to do. (Wamuiru)

Right after that, strong and heavy steps could be heard echoing through the hallway. The five of them looked for the origin of it and find the very tall bear that was having a stare down with Wamuiru. He looks at them with a very kind face and asks:

\- Is here where you wanted to have a match? (Bear)

\- Hell yeah it is! Now let’s compare claws so we can start. (Wamuiru)

Both of them showed their claws while the others in the corridor stared. He had big but rounded ones, while hers were very sharp. The bear looked confused, pulled a nail file out of his pocket and grabbed her hand.

\- You know that having unsharpened claws is a worldwide law, don’t you? Now I’ll have to unsharpen yours. (Bear)

Everyone was caught off guard by his action and it made her feel extremely embarrassed. When she couldn’t handle it anymore, she slapped him and grabbed the nail file.

\- Get off me, I can do this myself! (Wamuiru)

While she filed her claws, the bear looked around and noticed:

\- Wait, I haven’t introduced myself yet. I’m sorry, my name is Gan and I’m a moon bear. It’s nice to meet you all.

After she finished making the end of her claws dull as fast as possible, she handed it back to him and said:

\- Done! How about we start this already? (Wamuiru)

- _With pleasure._ (Gan)


	3. A Beary Impressive Rivalry

\- _With pleasure_. (Gan)

His answer’s intonation, even if unintentional, got Wamuiru’s and all of the spectator’s guards down. She freezed with embarrassment and that allowed Gan to get the first hit. The attack was a punch to the gut.

\- Ach! I’ll make you pay for this! (Wamuiru)

After shouting, the hyena tried slash his face, only for it to do almost nothing.

\- Oh, buddy. You forgot that you have rounded claws now. (Gan)

The bear proceeded to punch her again, now on the snout. She got dizzy for a few seconds, but he just watched while she recovered.

\- Hey, you can’t disrespect boss like that! (Frantz and Krish)

\- I’m not disrespecting her. I’m fighting as fair as possible. (Gan)

While he was answering them, Wamuiru snapped out of her dizziness and charged at her opponent, grabbing his arm, slamming him into the wall and holding him there by the wrists. While staring down and smirking at her, Gan said:

\- I think you haven’t noticed the situation you’re in. (Gan)

She then looks at how she’s holding him and how everyone is staring. Getting angry with how many times he had made her flustered during the fight, she kneed him near his most sensitive area, which makes him fall to the ground. 

When that happened, one of the spectators walked away and thought to herself “What a bunch of idiots”. It was the maned wolf.

After a few seconds of silence, she extends her hand and says: 

\- Get up. (Wamuiru)

\- Okay... (Gan)

\- This was... a nice fight. Do you wanna train so we can have a proper one next time? (Wamuiru)

\- Yeah. Can we be friends now? (Gan)

\- Why the fuck would I be your friend now? At most we can be rivals. (Wamuiru)

\- I thought that if I won a match against someone, I could be their friend. (Gan)

\- Buddy, with how embarrassed you made her feel during this fight, the most friendship you’ll get out of this is me. (Susan)

\- Shup up, you runt! (Wamuiru)

\- Then, can I be your friend? (Gan)

\- Of course. I’m just trying to befriend as many people as I can, since I never had that many friends to begin with. (Susan)

-But what really matters right now is that me and Siya take both of you to the nurse to make sure everything is alright. Since I know where it is, I’ll lead you there. (Susan)

\- I’m not hurt! (Wamuiru)

\- You may say that, but maybe the adrenaline is hiding your pain. Even if you hate me, I will take you there. (Susan)

Susan held Gan’s and Wamuiru’s hands, surprising them with how fluffy and soft hers were and walked them to the nurse. Both of them entered while she and the others stayed outside. A few minutes passed and when they exited the room, Susan then asked: 

\- So? Any major damage? (Susan)

\- No, just some bruises that will take two fucking weeks to recover because this wall of fluff has punches as heavy as a boulder. (Wamuiru)

\- I do and they got me in trouble a few times, but at least I only have one bruise and it will go away in a week. (Gan)

\- Now that everything is done, how about we try finding our dorm rooms. (Susan)

\- I don’t wanna go with you. (Wamuiru)

\- Well, you’ll have to, since the rooms are separated by gender. The guys will have to go together to the other building. What do you all think of hanging out after everyone finishes getting their rooms ready? (Susan)

\- As long as snowball here goes too, I can handle your presence. (Wamuiru)

\- What about you guys? You haven’t answered me yet. (Susan)

\- You’re pretty much the only “friend” I have right now, so I’ll go. (Gan)

\- I’m your brother and Wamuiru wants me to go, so I have to go too. (Siyabonga)

\- We were always by Wamu’s side and you’re not the one who will stop us now, even if your voice makes me wanna punch ya! (Frantz) 

\- We can have a spar if you want, but not right now. All you have to know is that it won’t be as interesting as the one between those two, since we’re not that strong. (Susan)

Krish pulls a bit on Frantz’s shirt and says in a quiet and kind of cute voice:

\- Bro, you shouldn’t do that. You never fight and we don’t know how good she’s at that. (Krish) 

\- Krish, for once in my life, I’ll ignore you. Sorry, bro. (Frantz)

He makes the rat let go of his shirt and stares at Susan, yelling:

\- Listen here you little void ball. I doubt you can hurt me with those fluffy paws, so I dare you to fight me during the hang out. (Frantz)

\- Well, I can’t say it won’t be fun, but you have to agree to three rules. (Susan)

\- Three? What the hell do you want from me? (Frantz)

\- Number one is that we both must have our claws unsharpened, two is that we can’t use weapons and three is that we can’t aim for areas like the vital organs and genitals. (Susan)

\- A boring simple fight then? (Frantz)

\- It will neither be boring or simple, since we don’t know each other’s fighting styles. I just want to minimize danger and lasting damage. (Susan)

\- Okay, I accept, but please just shut up. (Frantz)

\- I hope you win against the runt. (Wamuiru)

\- Do you doubt about that? (Frantz)

\- Well, they have a reason to. I’ll use my special strategy and you should prepare well for it. You know what I’m talking about, don’t you Siya? (Susan)

\- Sis, all I know is that I have to watch the fight and ensure that you won’t lose control. (Siyabonga)

\- Good, now let’s go find our dorms. (Susan)

The six of them walked almost side by side to the dorms, separating after getting to the buildings.

\- I hope I don’t have to deal with your fluffy ass for a while. (Wamuiru)

\- We have to find our rooms before you can get rid of me. (Susan)

The conversation wouldn’t continue, since the revelation that was just delivered left Wamuiru laughing with frustration. They were going to live in the same room, though there was a surprise when they entered. Someone was already in the room.


	4. An Unstable Room

When they got to their room, someone unexpected was there. They would have to live with a maned-wolf who seemed a bit off. She was wearing a fancy dress, had lustrous fur that seemed to be well cared for and had a strong smell of lavender perfume. Wamuiru was so impressed that all she could do was stare at the roommate with her mouth open, all the while Susan just watched her reactions. After a few seconds, the maned wolf asks:

\- You’re the idiot from earlier. I was hoping I wouldn’t have to deal with you, but that seems to be my fate. Can you at least introduce yourself? Or are you so dumb that not even an introduction is doable? (maned-wolf)

\- Oh, sorry. I’m Wamuiru, the spotted hyena. Nice to meet you.

\- And I’m Susan, the melanistic snow lynx. What’s your name?

\- I’m Laís, the maned wolf and soon to be model. I’m surprised you never heard about me.

\- I’m sorry, but I never had much access to fancy clothes and that type of stuff. (Wamuiru)

\- And I just have no interest on that. (Susan)

\- Have you ever heard of the brand “All Star”? It was created by my father. (Laís)

\- I’ve heard of it, but that stuff was always too expensive and fancy for me. Ah, and just so you know, I’m not going to treat you better just because your father is rich or something like that. (Susan)

\- But the only reason you have such a comfortable room is because my parents paid a lot for me to be here! (Laís)

\- Yeah, but why should I care? You’re just another student who had something difficult in your life and needs help, so there’s no reason for me to treat you like royalty or something like that. (Susan)

\- Don’t compare my life to your puny existences. Success awaits me after I get done with studying here and someone like you or this dumb looking punk will never be on the same level as me. (Laís)

\- H-hey! I’m not dumb... (Wamuiru)

\- Well, buddy. I don’t care about your future success and how rich your family is, I’ll treat you like an equal. I just hope you do the same, or you won’t receive much sympathy from most people here. (Susan)

\- You have no right to talk down to me like that! Go find a room with other trashy critters like you and get out of my line of sight! (Laís)

\- No. I’m assigned to this room and I’ll stay here. The only way you could get rid of me is by changing rooms and that will only be allowed in two months. (Susan)

\- Aren’t you going to say anything, Wamuiru? (Susan)

The hyena couldn’t make the words leave her mouth. She was intimidated by the appearance and way of talking of the maned-wolf. In the end, all she could do was mutter a word:

\- Sorry... (Wamuiru)

\- You have no reason to be sorry, so why are you apologizing? She literally insulted us! (Susan)

\- No, she’s right. I know I’m worthless. Comparing us is like comparing a side of the road rock with a diamond. (Wamuiru)

\- You see? She understands it. If you stay in your place and do as I say you can hang out with me. (Laís)

Wamuiru walked in Laís’ direction with a small smile, she hadn’t noticed yet, she fell for her. When she was getting close to the maned-wolf, Susan held her wrist and asked in an exasperated like tone:

\- Why are you doing this? Didn’t you understand that all of us are equals here? (Susan)

\- Let me go, you fluffy fucker. I don’t want to be with you. (Wamuiru)

While they were arguing, the door opened slowly and their last roommate appeared. She was a short and chubby tanuki with cute clothes and a pink bow. She got scared after   
seeing her new roommates, held her hands nervously and asked:

\- Did I come at a bad time? (tanuki)

\- Yes, but it’s good that you interrupted this mess. Why don’t we introduce ourselves so we can calm down and talk to each other correctly? (Susan)

\- I’ll start. I’m Atsuko, a tanuki.

\- I’m Susan.

\- I’m Wamuiru.

\- And I am Laís. I hope you don’t behave like the ball of fluff over there, but seeing that you don’t even care enough about yourself to not get fat like you are, I don’t expect much. (Laís)

The tanuki looked shocked. She held her hands again, looked down and said this while sniffling and starting to get watery eyes:

\- Heh... I never thought that I would be treated like before as soon as I got here. (Atsuko)

Her quiet crying left Laís and Wamuiru confused, while Susan worried about her. After a few seconds of it, the lynx offered:

\- Would you like a hug to feel better? (Susan)

\- Yes. (Atsuko)

Susan gave her a tight hug and said:

\- Don’t worry, I won’t treat you like that. You should stay on my side of the room. (Susan)

\- Thank you. (Atsuko)

\- This room is such a mess. (Laís)

\- It is and you’ll have to handle it. (Susan)

\- That’s no problem, I’ll go to a room that isn’t full of lowly idiots as soon as get the chance. (Laís)

\- Okay, then I won’t have to handle your brute and egotistic personality after that. (Susan)

\- You know what? Instead of arguing more, we should organize the room and our stuff. Me and Wamuiru have a fight to attend to later today. (Susan)

\- I don’t think I’m going to hang out with you anymore. (Wamuiru)

\- Weren’t you going to watch it to encourage Frantz? (Susan)

\- Yeah… he’s gonna get worried if I don’t appear. (Wamuiru)

\- Now let’s get our things organized and decide which bed belongs to who. (Susan)

\- I will take the coldest one. (Laís)

\- And I will take the one above her. (Wamuiru)

\- Atsuko, are you okay with sleeping on the upper bed? I’m scared of sleeping on it because I move a lot in my sleep. (Susan)

\- No problem. (Atsuko)

\- Now let’s get things done. Also, do you want to watch the fight I’ll have later? (Susan)

\- Why do you already have a fight with someone? We haven’t even been here for a whole day. (Atsuko)

\- It’s just that one of Wamuiru’s friends wanted to have a fight with me and I accepted. (Susan)

\- Okay, then I’ll cheer for you. (Atsuko)


	5. The Deer Room

After about an hour, everyone had finished organizing their things and Susan decided to look for the others and go to the cafeteria with them, since it was getting close to lunch time. When the three were leaving the room, Laís got up from her bed and asked:

\- Are you going to the male dorms? If so, I’m going too. (Laís)

\- Didn’t you say before that you wanted to stay away from me? (Susan)

\- Yeah, but there’s someone I have to meet and he’s also there. (Laís)

\- Oh, so you have a friend already? That’s unexpected, but I hope you can be a little happier that way. (Susan)

\- That’s none of your business. (Laís)

\- Okay, okay. Then let’s go. (Susan)

They all left their room and walked to the other building, which had the male dorm rooms. Their collective presence was catching some attention, with the taller girls tailing behind and the shorter ones leading the group while holding hands.

When they got to the building they went to each room’s door and read the signs with the names of who was staying there. While they looked for the right room they got many stares, mostly from guys who, just like Wamuiru, were impressed by Laís’ beauty. The maned-wolf was really enjoying the attention, it made her feel like the celebrity she was trained to become, but something was confusing her.

Every time Wamuiru noticed someone was staring at Laís, she would glare at that person and they would be almost instantly intimidated by her. Since she was behind the maned-wolf, what she was doing couldn’t be noticed by the ones walking with her.

When they got to the second floor, a deer with big fangs came walking towards them, ignored the shorter girls, pushed them out of his way and started talking to Laís:

\- Hello again, Laís. Did you have a good experience with your roommates? I hope your situation is better than mine. (Deer)

\- Not really, I thought I would be treated in an even better way here than in previous schools, but it seems like I landed in the same room as two plebs and a former thug, but at least the last one is treating me correctly. (Laís)

While she was talking, Susan started poking the deer’s shoulder, but he only answered after she said something:

\- Hey! Can you at least introduce yourself after pushing us out of the way? (Susan)

\- Who are you? (Deer)

\- I’m Susan, this one is Atsuko and we are Laís’ roommates, but I want you to introduce yourself. (Susan)

After looking at them for a bit, he turned around and said to Laís:

\- You sure got unlucky like me. (Deer)

\- Aren’t you forgetting someone? (Wamuiru)

When she said that, he finally noticed her behind Laís and took a step back, scared of the hyena. Wamuiru laughed a bit at the deer’s face, put her hand on his shoulder and said:

\- Dude. Just introduce yourself already. (Wamuiru)

\- Okay. I’m Anatoly, the musk deer. It seems like you’re also a friend of Laís, so please don’t hurt me.

\- I don’t see why I’d hit you. (Wamuiru)

\- Also, why are you all here? (Anatoly)

\- I came here to find you and these three are looking for the guys they were with earlier. (Laís)

\- Who are you looking for anyway? (Anatoly)

\- We are looking for an albino lion, a moon bear, a raccoon and a rat. Have you seen them? (Susan)

Anatoly made a disgusted expression, which made them curious and answered:

\- I know where two of those are and I would be glad if you could help me with them. (Anatoly)

\- Which ones and what did they do? (Susan)

\- The raccoon and the rat, they made a mess in our room and refused to organize their things. (Anatoly)

\- Oh, you’re talking about my idiots. I’ll have a talk with them. Take us to the room. (Wamuiru)

They followed the deer to the second floor, hearing sounds that appeared to be people talking really loudly and kept getting louder as they went up the ramp. They stopped in front of the first room and opened the door, only to greeted to the sight of Frantz talking excitedly with a tasman devil in the middle of the room and Krish quietly eating instant noodles by their side.

Outside of that the room wasn’t as messy as they thought it would be, the only mess they could see were a few packages of snacks on top of the desk. Frantz noticed their arrival and excitedly said:

\- Look Manuka! It’s Wamuiru, the one I was talking about. (Frantz)

\- So you’re like their big sister, right? You look really cool. (Manuka)

\- I can say the same to you, little guy. Can you just give us an introduction? (Wamuiru)

\- Yeah I can, but don’t fucking call me that again. I’m Manuka, the tasman devil.

\- Didn’t expect you to get offended that fast, but we have to fix a few things here. First, Anatoly. (Wamuiru)

\- Y-yes. (Anatoly)

\- Was this the mess you were talking about? (Wamuiru)

\- They were being really loud and it annoyed me, but it seems that they took some of the trash away. (Anatoly)

\- I knew you were going to tell someone about us, so we fixed it a bit. Didn’t think you’d find and bring the girls. (Frantz)

Wamuiru started walking in their direction and made them feel a bit scared. She lowered herself to their eye level and said:

\- You guys better remember that we got a behavior grade here, so you can’t go messing around and doing stuff like that, especially with a roommate like that deer, or else you gonna lose your points too fast. (Wamuiru)

\- You can’t tell me what to do. (Manuka)

\- I can’t tell you, but I can and will tell these two, I don’t want them expelled. (Wamuiru)

\- Okay, we’ll clean it. (Frantz)

After throwing the trash away, Frantz asked the girls:

\- So, what are we doing now? (Frantz)

\- I suggested that we all go get lunch together and that we save our fight for when sun starts setting. (Susan)

\- Wait, who’s going to have a fight already? (Anatoly)

\- Me and Frantz, do you two want to come with us to have lunch and watch it later? (Susan)

\- Hell yeah I do. (Manuka)

\- That could be interesting. (Anatoly)

\- Then let’s go find the other two. (Susan)

\- You didn’t ask if I agree. (Frantz)

\- Do you? (Susan)

\- Yeah. (Frantz)


	6. More Rooms

While they were looking for Siyabonga and Gan, Atsuko noticed how they were almost crowding the corridors in the process and couldn’t handle the curiosity. She proceeded to ask the lynx:

\- Susan, how did you group so many people this fast? (Atsuko)

\- To be honest, it’s mostly just the fact that I suggest things to do and give people the idea to come along. It usually doesn’t work this well though. (Susan)

They followed Susan through the hall, stopping in front of each door to see if one of the two that they were looking for was staying there. They only had to look at three more rooms to find one of them and this time it was Gan. The lynx knocked on the door and opened it only to find an interesting sight, the bear was arm wrestling an otter who was much smaller than him, but looked fairly strong. Two other guys were watching the match without saying anything, they were a goat and a bat that had a foxlike face.

Susan’s group watched quietly while the two wrestled, it took about a minute of both of their hands being in the middle before the otter lost. Gan instantly got up and celebrated his victory while laughing and said:

\- Man, you put up a really good fight! (Gan)

\- Thanks, but now I’m just more determined! I know someday I’ll be stronger than you and you’ll be impressed at me for it! (Otter)

\- I will, but until then I’ll be waiting. (Gan)

They gripped each other’s hand strongly after that agreement and then Gan finally decided to talk to Susan.

\- Hey, Suu. What are you here for? Are we going to hang out now? And who are all these people behind you? (Gan)

\- Suu? That’s a cool nickname. (Susan, thinking)

\- I wanted to call everyone who was going to hang out with us to eat lunch now and watch the fight during the sunset, the new girls and Wamuiru are my roommates and all the others just decided to tag along.

\- Wow. That’s a really big group for a first day! (Gan)

\- Wait, who’s gonna fight? (Otter)

\- Me and Frantz, that raccoon back there. (Susan)

\- Why? (Otter)

\- He just asked to fight me and I accepted. Do you guys want to watch it? (Susan)

\- I want! (Otter)

\- Me too... (Goat)

\- And you back there? (Susan)

\- I think I’ll go too; I don’t want to be alone. (Bat)

\- Also, can you guys introduce yourselves? The only one I know here is Gan. (Susan)

\- No problem! I’m Bruno, a hybrid between an ariranha and a small-clawed otter.

\- Okay, now the bat. (Susan)

\- I’m Crisanto, a golden-crowned bat.

\- And you? (Susan)

\- I’m Jing and I’m just an alpine goat...

\- Hey, buddy. Why did you get that sad look on your face? (Susan)

\- It’s just that the other introductions seemed so much more interesting, I feel like I don’t fit in. (Jing)

\- Don’t worry, no one fits in while hanging out with me. Also, you’re not boring, you just don’t look as flashy or weird. (Susan)

\- Who are you calling flashy and weird?! (Anatoly and Laís)

\- I’m referencing everyone who’s following me, look around and you’ll see that we all have different aesthetics and look like we would be part of different groups in normal   
schools. We just look weird hanging out together, but that’s good. (Susan)

\- How can that be good?! (Anatoly and Laís)

\- To me, weird just means interesting, but with many ways of being explored and interpreted. (Susan)

\- That’s... a really nice way of looking at it. Thank you. (Jing)

-No problem. Now, won’t you guys in the room follow me too? (Susan)

\- We’re going. (Bruno)

\- Now we’re going to look for my brother. (Susan)

Looking bigger than ever, the group only had to walk to the end of the hall to find the room where Siyabonga was. Susan knocked on the door and opened it, only to be blasted with very humid air on her face. This was the most exotic room between all of the ones she saw.

The students inside were a salamander who didn’t look really sober with a lizard with many spikes sitting beside him, the humidifier turned on max near them. On the other side she saw her brother talking with someone who’s species she couldn’t remember the name.Siyabonga noticed her and said:

\- Hi, sis. Why are you here? More importantly, why are there so many people behind you? (Siyabonga)

\- I wanted to call you so we could eat lunch and tell you that the fight will happen during the sunset. These people wanted to come along. (Susan)

\- Wow, I’m impressed. Well done. Also, I think you’d be great friends with this guy here. (Siyabonga)

\- Howdy, I’m Kaikea, a short-beaked echidna. Nice to meet ya.

\- Hi, I hope we can really be friends, but I really want to know why Siya chose you. (Susan)

\- I know that you like to study the anatomy of each species and he has a lot of interesting stuff going on, so I thought you’d like to talk to him. (Siyabonga)

\- I mean, you’re right, but is he ok with that? (Susan)

\- That’s nothing, bud. If ya won’t insult me and stuff like that, then it ain’t no problem. (Kaikea)

\- Then I would like to talk to you later. (Susan)

After that Susan remembered about the other two who hadn’t said anything until now. She asked them:

\- And you two there. What are your names? (Susan)

\- I’m Nathan, a thorny devil. Don’t worry about the name. (Nathan)

\- And me? I’m Eric. I’m a yellow spotted salamander. Do you wanna try some of my algae?

\- No, I want to be sober for my fight. (Susan)

\- Fight? Are ya already squaring up with someone? Can we watch? (Eric)

\- Yes, I’ll fight with the raccoon over there and yes, you can watch. Just come along with me so we can eat lunch and hang out until the time arrives. (Susan)

\- Okay, then we going. (Eric)

The four of them got out of the room and started following Susan along with the others. She took them to the cafeteria and since they got there later than most of the other students, the desks were almost all empty. They served themselves and organized the groups according to the available desks, creating again, an interesting view for everyone who happened to pass by.


	7. Lunch Time

They had organized their tables based on who was more comfortable with who and since none of them were told about what had happened in the other rooms, it led to some confusion. Wamuiru and Anatoly decided that they would sit with Laís and because Krish and Frantz always followed their sister, they did the same. All of this started the first argument.

\- Hey, why are you two sitting here? I didn’t call you. (Laís)

\- Well, we and Wamuu are always together. We don’t need your permission. (Frantz)

\- Actually, you do need it. I don’t want grimy creatures like you being near me. (Laís)

\- We’re not grimy! Can’t you be a little more polite? (Frantz)

\- It’s not about politeness, I’m just saying things how they are and you two really look like you don’t care about your hygiene. (Laís)

While this unfolded, the hyena just stood quietly on her chair. Her expression and body language showed a kind of embarrassment that looked really out of place. This outraged the raccoon and made him shout:

\- And you Wamuu? Are you really going to just stay there and let your bros be insulted by this fancy looking fucker?! (Frantz)

\- It’s your decision, do you want to stay here with me or be excluded from the group so you can stay with your dirty “brothers”? (Laís)

Wamuiru looked anxious, as if she was answering a life or death choice. None of this seemed right, not her expressions, not who she was sitting with and definitely not how she responded.

\- Could you guys go somewhere else this time? I’ve made a deal with her. (Wamuiru)

They looked shocked, as if an unbelievable truth had been told to them and they couldn’t accept it. Showing how betrayed he felt, Frantz walked angrily towards Susan, with a very sad Krish following after him. This led to Wamuiru feeling extremely guilty and the lynx being shaken about for an answer.

\- Fluffy, what happened to our Wamuu while we were out? What did fancy girl do to her? (Frantz)

\- Well, we all kind of got into a fight and she convinced your sister into being part of her group. I don’t really understand why she did that, but that’s what happened. Also, she insulted both of us and Atsuko. (Susan)

\- And she decided to join her?! (Frantz)

\- Exactly and please let go of me, I don’t understand it either. (Susan)

The raccoon let go and Susan went back to her place on the table. He looked puzzled and very confused, while his brother just looked sad and worried. Krish shyly asked him:

\- Do you think she’s going to stop caring about us? (Krish)

\- Hell no! She’s strong and she cared for us during all these years, she isn’t going to stop just now. The maned wolf probably did or said something that is messing with her. (Frantz)

\- Hey, how about we have a chat with her after the fight? I’ll be there just as a testimony about what happened, the conversation will be between you three. (Susan)

\- You finally said something I can agree with! (Frantz)

\- Great, but for now, do you want to sit here with me? I chose the big table so we wouldn’t have to separate much. (Susan)

\- Okay, but we’re going to the other end of the table. (Frantz)

\- No problem. (Susan)

They had their lunch with short conversations between most of them, some of them had a few interesting happenings. Manuka ate his food at a weirdly fast pace and in an almost “aggressive” way, which let Gan and Bruno confused, but he also ate their leftovers. At the big table, Kaikea discussed some ant recipes from his hometown with Nathan and Atsuko, who thought they were very interesting, though one of them was paying more attention than the other.

While Laís and Anatoly were alone at their own small table, Susan and most of the others were at the big table, with the only other ones that were separated being Bruno, Manuka and Gan, which were talking about working out. Atsuko was looking at them with a bit of a puzzled look for a little while before standing, walking up to Susan and handing to the lynx a container. She whispered to her:

\- Suu… Could you please share these with the others? (Atsuko)

Susan looked at the container and smiled before announcing:

\- Hey, everyone! Do you guys want some cookies? (Susan)

All the others except the ones at Laís’ table walked up to her excitedly and grabbed at least one cookie, some grabbed more. Gan really liked them and was the one who took the most, but before eating all of them, he asked:

\- These are so good! Suu, did you make these? (Gan)

\- No, the one who made them was Atsuko. (Susan)

\- Wow! I didn’t know you were so good at this! Thanks for sharing them with us! (Gan)

Even though he was a big bear, he looked like a happy little kid while complimenting her. The tanuki looked caught off guard, but happy. Seeing the situation, Bruno and Manuka decided to compliment her too.

\- Don’t think he’s the only one who liked these! They’re amazing! (Bruno)

\- Yeah, the food at home doesn’t even compare to these! (Manuka)

Atsuko was getting flustered; she couldn’t remember the last time she was praised like this. While this was happening and not all cookies had been taken, Susan decided to say something that made the evening worse.

\- Hey, what about you three? Aren’t you going to get any cookies? (Susan)

\- No, I don’t want them… (Wamuiru)

\- I’m not a fan of sweets. (Anatoly)

\- I wouldn’t mess up my diet for some worthless treats like these. (Laís)

\- Are you sure? You’re pretty much not eating anything. (Susan)

\- Yes, you can rest assured that I’m not taking the risk to lose my looks and become a worthless blob of fat like the one who made these. (Laís)

\- Ah… There it is again. (Atsuko)

After that, the air between them felt heavy and none of them said anything for a few seconds. Susan was going to start arguing with her again, but something interesting happened. Gan put his cookies on his plate and walked to Laís slowly without breaking eye contact. Susan looked over to the other ones and all of them seemed confused, except   
for Laís and Anatoly, who seemed increasingly scared with each step the bear took. When he got in front of the maned wolf, he asked very slowly:

\- I’m sorry… but what did you say about little nuki? (Gan)

\- G-get away from me, you giant! (Laís)

\- Gan, please… that was nothing, just leave her alone. (Atsuko)

\- I just asked her something. What did she say about you? (Gan)

\- Y-you have nothing to do with this, w-why are you getting involved? (Laís)

\- Miss, you insulted my friend and made her sad. I’m here to make you apologize. (Gan)

\- Friend? (Atsuko)

After saying such a threatening thing with a pure and innocent face, Gan left everyone watching the scene baffled and it was enough to get Wamuiru to say something. She got up, stared him in the eye and said:

\- Get away from her, you pile of fluff! (Wamuiru)

\- Heh, seems like we’re against each other again. (Gan)

\- Yeah and I won’t let you threaten her. (Wamuiru)

\- That’s not what I’m doing, I just want her to apologize. Even you can see that she did something wrong, so, why are you defending her? (Gan)

\- I’m defending her because… (Wamuiru)

The spotted hyena stopped in the middle of her argument and had a weirdly long pause, not knowing what to say. After an uncomfortable amount of time, Gan asked:

\- Hmm, tell me, why are you doing it? (Gan)

\- I… I don’t know. She just makes me feel like protecting her, but that’s none of your business! (Wamuiru)

\- Well, I feel the same about Atsuko, that’s why I think she should apologize. Also, why would you protect someone who, from what I’ve seen, is only making others feel bad? (Gan)

There he was again, showing his capacity to leave others speechless. Wamuiru stood there for a minute, thinking and trying to understand what she should do. After thinking about what Laís said to her and how she treated her brothers, she decided to stop it. She turned to the maned wolf and said:

\- You know what, Laís? I’m not going to obey you and stay shut just because you make me feel weird. I was a dumbass to let you insult my bros and me, but now it’s done. I won’t be part of your group anymore. (Wamuiru)

\- Oh, so the other two she insulted are your siblings? Seems like you’ll have to apologize more, Laís. (Gan)

After this, Wamuiru went and apologized to Krish and Frantz, leaving the maned wolf with the intimidating bear. They kept staring at each other while the others stayed by their tables, trying to understand everything that had just happened. One of them was missing, which was Anatoly, who ran away without the others noticing as soon as Gan arrived at their table.

The bear kept staring at her before saying:

\- Well, you have no one on your side anymore. You should just apologize to the ones you hurt. (Gan)

He called for Atsuko, Frantz, Krish and Wamuiru to come by his side and hear her.

\- O-okay. Ahem… I’m sorry. (Laís)

\- Don’t you have anything more to say? (Gan)

\- No, I don’t know what I should add and now, I’ll just go. I have stuff to do. (Laís)

And just like that, she grabbed her things and walked away, leaving the group behind. Wamuiru called her brothers and sat with them at a separate table to explain, but mostly try to understand, what she was feeling and why she did what she did. Then, unexpectedly, Atsuko hugged Gan, hiding her face in embarrassment.

\- Thanks for standing up for us, but what did you say about “feeling the same towards me”? (Atsuko)

\- Well, can I give you the answer later? I want to make sure of what I said. (Gan)

\- Ok, as long as you still answer me. (Atsuko)

With all of this done, the group went back to chatting with each other and just vibing, with no sight of Anatoly or Laís during this time. At about 15:00, Susan called everyone to gather around her and said:

\- Guys, the time of the fight isn’t that far and I’m going to guide everyone that still wants to see it. Come with me and we’ll relax at the area until sunset. (Susan)


	8. Summoning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When music time arrives, play these two consecutively: https://youtu.be/LiLJoBTZKX0 https://youtu.be/jiAp85OVaJ4 . You'll know when it's time to play these other ones https://youtu.be/GTTUbby58zQ https://youtu.be/32GWbQt_Zn4 .

It was 16:25 and the slightly smaller group had been in the resting in the courtyard called “The Corner of Knowledge” for about half an hour. It was a big covered area with a smooth stone floor, many wooden and stone benches, two water fountains and was surrounded by flowering trees. They were chatting, divided in many smaller groups so everyone could sit. They were the only ones in there, none of them knew why, but it could be because of the attention and intimidation their mere presence led to. Some of the main sources of that would be the tall and buff bear and hyena, the black and blue lynx and the white and pink lion. 

The groups were: Gan, Manuka and Bruno, which were at the smaller stone seats since they had a table that was also made of stone and they could continue their arm wrestling there; Wamuiru, Frantz, Krish and Siyabonga were at the big stone bench, talking about things that happened to them after he was adopted; Susan, Kaikea, Eric and Nathan were at one of the wooden benches discussing weird characteristics that each of their species had, of course the echidna was leading the conversation. The last ones were Atsuko, Jing and Crisanto, all of them were trying their best to interact, but they were too shy and nervous to have a viable conversation, so they decided to just stay there watching the others while the bat drew something that they couldn’t really understand, he said “it’s just a sketch, I can show it to you when I finish if you want”, which made them a little happier.

As 16:30 arrived, a loud bell rang throughout the whole school and most of the students and workers reached for a little bag each of them had, which contained the anti-predation medicine “Bucarenti”. Kaikea looked confused as many of his friends got their water bottles and pills, so he waited for them to finish and asked to Susan:

\- Hey, Suu. Why are y’all taking those meds? (Kaikea)

\- You don’t know? That’s weird, but I need to know if you want the long or the short explanation. (Susan)

\- The long one, I think. (Kaikea)

\- Ok, then here goes a history class. All animals that aren’t herbivores, insectivores or invertivores are obliged by law to take those pills so as to not cause predation accidents, this was put in place after the “Peace Treaty” that happened between all of the population groups. This has been in place for about two centuries and herbivores developed it with the intent of creating peace and stopping the predation attacks, so in the first city in which it was applied, all populations could try to live together, it was named “Locussen” and that’s why this place is called like that. (Susan)

\- Oh, sorry. We didn’t have any of you guys back where I lived. (Kaikea)

\- I’m surprised you didn’t learn that on history class. (Susan)

\- Wish I knew why they never told us. (Kaikea)

Shortly after, the sun started setting and beautiful shades of orange started appearing in the sky. Frantz stood up and walked up to Susan, he gestured for her to get up. The lynx was getting ready to fight, but before it began, she asked for her brother to get something from the backpack. No one knew what was going to happen, since she told him what to do in secret. Siyabonga pulled out a small speaker and his phone, connected them and started playing a song that sounded as if it was trying to summon something. The others felt extremely confused until they looked at his sister.

Susan had her fur strongly raised, which made her seem bigger, her eyes were gleaming in a way that exuded excitement and strength, she was grinning in a way only her brother knew she could and, in the process, showing her fangs, all of this while doing a defensive stance and showing she was ready to throw down. It made her seem like a different creature, a being made for hunting and fighting, this scared Frantz and all he could do was ask:

\- Hey hey hey! Isn’t this cheating? (Frantz)

\- I never said that getting in the mood for a fight wasn’t allowed. (Susan)

\- How is this even getting in the mood?! This doesn’t make any sense! (Frantz)

\- Buddy, I don’t make any sense. Are you ready? (Susan)

\- M-might as well be! Let’s go! (Frantz)

As soon as the beat in the music dropped the lynx ran as fast as she could and punched the side of the raccoon’s snout, he tried to block it but failed since it looked like she was going to punch his chest. He got stunned for a moment before looking for the opponent, only to find her regaining her breath a few steps away. Frantz tried to think of a way to take advantage of that and uttered, trying to annoy her:

\- Huh, tired already? (Frantz)

\- A bit, but that will not interfere with my plan. (Susan)

This time it was Frantz’s turn, he ran in Susan’s direction but she didn’t move, that made him think that for some reason she already surrendered, but the reason was way different. When the raccoon got very close to her, she evaded his attack but left her paw in place and made him almost fall. After that she turned around and landed a hit on his side, leaving him alone for a moment so he could recover. Soon Frantz stabilized himself and she ran up to him to deliver another blow.

With all of this happening, attention was drawn again and many people were watching from outside, not wanting to get involved, especially since there seemed to be many cursed songs put to play in a row and they hadn’t stopped yet. They weren’t the most involved though, since their friends were watching everything closely and cheering for the one they hoped that would win. The loudest voice was Wamuiru cheering as much as she could for her brother and the second one was Gan, who just hoped his little buddy would win.

\- Go Frantz! Don’t let the little pile of fluff defeat you! (Wamuiru)

\- Go Suu! You can handle him! (Gan)

She got close to punching his chest, but the attempt was blocked and he got a punch to his wrists. While the lynx got into position to deliver another blow, Frantz punched her stomach and got scared for a moment. Susan started laughing and letting him hit more and more blows, making everyone, including her opponent very confused. The only one who knew the truth was Siyabonga.

\- Heh, don’t you understand? (Susan)

\- Understand what, you freak?! (Frantz)

\- I have a high pain tolerance. (Susan)

Suddenly she reached for his neck and pressed the area near his collarbone, which made him fall to ground. The raccoon was experiencing a sharp pain and was panicking while Susan kept pressing on him, he tried to push her away, but couldn’t. In the midst of his panic, he ended up scratching her face, that made her start bleeding but she didn’t care. After a certain point, he couldn’t handle it anymore and bit her arm, she let him go and after he got to stand up again, she said:

\- I’m going to clean this a bit with water and I’ll be back in a moment. Don’t think it has ended just yet. (Susan)

She left and went to the restroom, her face and right arm near the wrist still bleeding. Frantz decided to sit for a bit while she was gone and rest as much as he could, even then, his neck was still hurting. Some of them were confused with how she fought and Wamuiru decided to ask:

\- Hey, Siyabonga… What in the living fuck was that? (Wamuiru)

\- What are you asking about? (Siyabonga)

\- Everything. They neck thing she did and what happened to her with the song. (Wamuiru)

\- Oh, that’s an attack she developed herself and she gets much stronger when she’s angry or excited, but since she wasn’t angry at Frantz, she asked me to just play her the songs that make her feel like that. (Siyabonga)

They waited for a little bit and when she came back parts of her fur were a bit wet and she wasn’t bleeding anymore. She looked at her brother and said:

\- Siya, play the world order one. (Susan)

As soon as she said that, a mysterious and weird song started playing and it felt like that was the end. Susan’s fur began to stand again and even though she was injured, she started grinning again and the shine came back to her eyes. She got back to her stance and said:

\- Now, play the final one. (Susan)

The rhythm in the last song started to build up and she started sprinting towards Frantz at the exact moment when the beat dropped. This time she wasn’t going to hit him, it was the final stretch. She tried grabbing him, they blocked each other, intertwining their hands and trying to push the other as much as possible. After a while of just trying to overpower him, Susan put the rest of her plan in place by letting her paws slip a bit and reach his wrists.

After grabbing him, she began spinning with speed that made them seem like just a blur of black and grey fur. They kept going until the lynx let go of Frantz, but sadly the raccoon couldn’t handle what happened and fell to the ground. For a few seconds they just stopped, Susan regained her stability while the raccoon just stayed on the ground. After recovering herself, she squatted and grabbed his arms by the wrists again, one in each hand, then started pulling. He yelled in pain for a moment, before hearing a pop.

She dislocated one of his arms, but before anyone could do anything, she pushed it back in place even with his screams, leaving it as if nothing happened and went to the middle of the courtyard. When she got there, everyone was staring and she started laughing. All they saw was this weird lynx, laughing for no reason, her pitch-black fur with blue parts contrasting with the pink, orange and blue background of the setting sun. After she finished laughing, she said:

\- That’s it, I won. (Susan)

And then collapsed.


	9. Wanderer

It was early in the morning when Susan finally woke up in her room, she was confused and had a headache. Two of her roommates were also there, but Laís was nowhere to be seen. Wamuiru was looking at her phone and Atsuko was cooking something; she couldn’t figure what it was due to her sleepiness. After sitting up on her bed for a little while, the tanuki noticed her friend finally being awake and asked:

\- Good morning, Suu. Are you feeling better today? (Atsuko)

\- Not really, my head hurts. What happened? (Susan)

\- You passed out after your fight with Frantz, we took you to the nurse’s office and when it got late Gan helped us by taking you here. (Atsuko)

\- That explains it. (Susan)

Susan stayed on her bed for a little while, then got up and took some medicine for her headache. She finally saw what Atsuko was cooking, it was pancakes. She noticed that the lynx was staring and asked:

\- Do you want some of them? (Atsuko)

\- Yes. (Susan)

\- Then just wait there, you must be hungry so I’ll make some for you. (Atsuko)

\- Thank you. (Susan)

After waiting for a few minutes, Susan got a plate with two pancakes and started chatting with Atsuko. Wamuiru had left while this happened.

\- So, what are you going to do now? (Atsuko)

\- What do you mean? (Susan)

\- You had your fight, the reason why everyone was following you. So, do you have any plans of what to do now? (Atsuko)

\- I think I’m going to wander around the school and see if I can make more friends. (Susan)

\- More? Don’t you think you have enough already? (Atsuko)

\- I don’t feel like what I got until now is enough. I’ll stop once I feel like it. (Susan)

\- Then, if you plan on finding as many people as possible, you better finish eating already. (Atsuko)

\- It’s ok, I’m almost done. Thanks for making these for me. (Susan)

After they both finished eating, Susan cleaned the dishes and went out on her mission. Outside of just meeting more people, she could understand the layout of the school better by doing this. The first area she decided to go was the sun basking patio that she had heard someone talking about.

When she got there, many people were already there. All of them seemed to be reptiles or of reptile descent, with two of them catching her attention. A beautiful black snake with scales that gleamed with the sunlight and a hybrid that she couldn’t really understand. That girl had a long but feline-like snout, her fur had splotches and stripes and her tail was all scaly. They were quietly talking about a book she recognized, it was titled “False Hope”.

The lynx walked up to them and decided to start a conversation:

\- Hi, I see you two know about the “Deep Despair” franchise. At which point of the story are you in? (Susan)

\- Right now, I’m at the confrontation between the group and the protagonist. (snake)

\- But she already finished all of the books, she’s just explaining the plot to me. (chimera)

\- Though it is quite nice to find another fan so soon. So, who are you? (snake)

\- I’m Susan, a melanistic snow lynx. What about you?

\- I’m Anokosha, a hybrid between a black mamba and a king cobra.

\- And I’m Nikita, I’m a hybrid between an okapi, a jaguar and a komogon. Nice to meet ya!

\- Nice to meet you too. (Susan)

\- So, Susan, who’s your favorite character? (Anokosha)

\- That’s kinda hard to say, many of them are interesting and there are some that I really want to punch. At least I can say one of my favorites is Boris, mostly because of how unpredictable he is. (Susan)

\- I see, you’re going to suffer then. (Anokosha)

\- Why? He dies? (Susan)

\- All I can tell you is that a lot of stuff happens to him. (Anokosha)

\- Okay then, I see I’m in for an emotional ride. (Susan)

\- Also, have you played the first game adaptation? (Anokosha)

\- I’m at the beginning of it. (Susan)

\- Then I’d recommend you to play all of the seraphim events, they’re pretty interesting. (Anokosha)

\- Hey, please don’t leave me out of the conversation. (Nikita)

\- Well, how are you going to participate if I haven’t explained it all to you? (Anokosha)

\- I have an idea. How about we walk around the school while talking about the series after you two finish sunbathing? (Susan)

\- That’d be really cool! (Nikita)

\- It’s settled then. I’m going to stay around the covered area for a while, my fur is heating up too much. (Susan)

After about ten minutes, the two reptile girls had already warmed up their blood and met up with Susan again. They all roamed around the school and talked mostly about the games and books of the “Deep Despair” series, then hanged out next to the computer room for a while, so they could show each other some cool videos and drawings about the franchise. Then, when it was around 11:00, they went to the cafeteria to get some food since Nikita was already getting hungry.

When they got to their table, a familiar face appeared and started talking angrily:

\- Hey, fluffy! Come here! (Laís)

Susan walked up to the maned wolf who went to the corridor right next to them, leaving Anokosha and Nikita confused. Then she asked:

\- So, what do you wanna talk about? (Susan)

\- I want to know how you managed to befriend two hybrids before me. (Laís)

\- What do you mean? (Susan)

\- I mean, how could a nobody, someone with no status or importance like you… How did you manage to befriend them?! (Laís)

\- Well, we shall answer that for ourselves. (Anokosha)

Anokosha came to investigate the conversation and appeared behind Laís without her noticing, though she wasn’t alone, since Nikita came too out of curiosity. The maned wolf was scared, scared of the snake glaring into her eyes. After a few moments of silence, she said:

\- You see **_Laís_** , I didn’t befriend you because I could see your true intentions, I understood that all you wanted was the fame and status that came with having connections to a hybrid. Susan on the other hand, I decided to be her friend. (Anokosha)

\- Why? W-what is she worth for? (Laís)

\- She doesn’t need worth, she decided to talk to us because we’re part of the same fandom, she didn’t have any bad intentions or underlying motives. That’s why I decided to not ignore her. (Anokosha)

\- A-and you, chimera? (Laís)

\- First of all, my name is Nikita, second of all, you just don’t seem like a good person. (Nikita)

\- Now, leave us alone. (Anokosha)

Laís walked away while still cursing under her breath, then when they couldn’t see her anymore, the three girls went back to her table to finally eat their lunch. The hybrid girls went back to her dorm room, since they were roommates and Susan started wandering around again. After walking for about half an hour and checking areas such as the pool and the gym, she found a rabbit and an axolotl arguing and decided to try getting into the conversation. When she got closer to them, she could finally understand what was being said.

\- Don’t you understand it? You can’t simply expect variants like a snake and a lion to breed. (axolotl)

\- Why not?! What would be the consequence of that? (rabbit)

\- Just try fucking imagining it, you idiot! (axolotl)

\- Yeah, I’m trying to picture it right now. I see nothing wrong. (rabbit)

\- Dear mantis. (axolotl)

\- That’s as unlikely to lead into a hybrid as a salamander breeding with a harpy. (Susan)

\- What? Who the fuck are you? (axolotl)

\- I’m Susan, a snow lynx. What about you both?

\- I’m Alvino, a coney rabbit.

\- And I’m Rosa, an axolotl. But that’s not the point, what do you want?

\- Just wanted to talk with someone and you two seemed to be talking about anatomy. (Susan)

\- So you’re interested in that stuff too? (Rosa)

\- Yeah, knowing how each variant works is interesting. What’s your favorite part about it? (Susan)

\- I like knowing the weaknesses of each variant, what can kill them easily and how to heal those things. (Rosa)

\- And I like knowing about just the weird things that each variant has and how hybrids work. (Alvino)

\- Oh, you two would’ve been stoked to see the two girls I met earlier then. One of them was a snake hybrid and the other was a chimera. (Susan)

\- Wait, WHAT?! There’s a chimera and a hybrid in this school? (Rosa)

\- Yeah, there’s more than one hybrid actually and it seems like they’re from the first year. (Susan)

\- We’re from the first year too. (Alvino)

\- Me too, so maybe we’re going to be classmates. (Susan)

\- Heh, I want to know more about those two. (Rosa)

\- Hey, don’t try anything dangerous! The snake is very smart and both of them are probably venomous. (Susan)

\- Both? (Alvino)

\- Yeah, the chimera is part komogon. (Susan)

\- Hm, they seem interesting. (Rosa)

After she finished saying this, the speakers around the school starting playing a jingle and the principal started talking.

\- _Hello, all my students. I must warn you all about noise night. You may be asking “what is noise night?”, simple, it’s an event held every Saturday night where all students gather around the roof of the school buildings and yell whatever noise they want or just hang around chatting. The quieter gatherings must be held on top of the dorms, so those who sleep early don’t struggle to do so. The goal of this event is to help the students with not getting too stressed and giving them the chance to relax with their friends and yell their pain away. I hope all new students can appreciate and participate in this event that will be part of their school life from now on._

The principal then stopped talking and Susan turned to the other two.

\- So, are you two going to the noise night? (Susan)

\- Hell yeah, I want to become familiar with those sounds. (Rosa)

\- And I just want to hang out with people. (Alvino)

\- I’m going to call all my friends to hang out with me, they’re many and pretty interesting all around. Do you want me to introduce you to them? (Susan)

\- That seems cool, I’ll be part of your friend group. (Rosa)

\- Nice, what about you? (Susan)

\- Yeah, I’ll go too. (Alvino)

\- Then it’s settled. I also really want to know how my noises will sound when combined with the others. (Susan)

\- Oh, I’ve heard that lynxes can make some gnarly noises. Is that true? (Rosa)

\- Some of us can, like me. I’m more interested in hearing them combined with those of a lion, a hyena and tasman devil combined with mine. (Susan)

Rosa looked at the lynx with squinted eyes and confusion, then asked:

\- How did you manage to gather those in a single group? (Rosa)

\- I don’t know, things just happened. (Susan)

\- Anyway, it seems that meeting your friends is going to be one hell of an experience. (Rosa)

\- It will, but now, I’m going back to my dorm. So, bye. (Susan)

Susan walked away and the others waved at her. This night would surely be interesting.


	10. Noise Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This will be the final chapter, either for a while or forever.

Now it was 16:30, all the flesh eaters had already taken their meds and Susan decided to look for her new friends and then call the other ones to buy some stuff for the party. It hadn’t been called exactly that, but that’s how she decided to refer to noise night in her mind. 

\- Hey, Atsuko. I’ll go looking for my new friends to buy some stuff for the event and then I’ll get all of you guys, ok? (Susan)

\- Ok, I’ll be waiting. (Atsuko) 

She went looking for Anokosha first, since she was already in the female dorms. The lynx looked at all the rooms of the first floor, not seeing any familiar names there, she then went up the ramp to the second floor and saw the hybrid’s name on the door.

After giving it a few quiet knocks and receiving permission to enter, she opened the door and saw both Anokosha and Nikita just relaxing on their beds. On the other two beds were a gecko and an iguana, both of them ignored her presence, which was okay for her, she had already got enough friends by her side.

\- Hey, do you two want to come with me and buy some stuff for the event? (Susan)

\- Sure, we’re not doing anything important. (Anokosha)

\- Yeah, I’ll go too. (Nikita)

\- All I need to do before that is gather my other friends, do you want to come with me for that or wait here until I get all of them? (Susan)

They looked at one another for a moment and just nodded.

\- We’ll go with you now. (Anokosha)

With that the two hybrids followed her while she looked for the axolotl. It was surprisingly fast, since she ended up being on the same floor as the other two. Once again, the lynx knocked lightly on the door that had Rosa’s name, being blasted with a gust of humid air once it opened. Inside there was a basilisk, a crocodile and for some reason Alvino was there too. 

\- Alvino, what are you doing here? I didn’t notice your name on the door. (Susan)

\- I live in this room and my name is there. (Alvino)

\- And how were you allowed to be in a room of the female dorms. (Susan)

\- I have a reason, but I’d rather not talk about it now… (Alvino)

He got quiet and Rosa asked her:

\- So, what do you want? (Rosa)

\- I want to know if you two want to come with me to buy some stuff for the event. (Susan)

\- I don’t feel like buying anything but I might as well go. (Rosa)

\- Yeah, I’ll just hang out with you guys then. (Alvino)

\- Then let’s go, Anokosha and Nikita are waiting in the corridor and I have to go get the others. (Susan)

\- Wait, they’re here?! (Rosa and Alvino)

The two of them rushed out of the room while grabbing their phones and got to where the hybrids were waiting. When they were in front of each other, the rabbit and the axolotl just stood there, staring but feeling intimidated. After taking a look at them, Anokosha noticed something and decided to comment:

\- I feel something weird in your eyes, axolotl. You should cease your staring and introduce yourself. And bunny, take advantage of that do your introduction too. (Anokosha)

\- O-okay, I’m Rosa the axolotl. Sorry for being rude. 

\- And I’m Alvino, a coney rabbit.

\- Now that everything is done, come with me so I can call the other friends. (Susan)

The lynx then proceeded to lead her most recently obtained friends around the dorms, knocking on every door that had any of her friends and clogging the corridors by the end of the process. After gathering everyone and getting out of the dorms, she led her group to the “Claw and Hoof” market that was about five minutes of walking distance from their school. 

At all moments during their walk, more and more stares were being gathered, but that didn’t bother them. How couldn’t they stare at group with multiple hybrids and weird looking people walking together? Though some of them were obscured and ignored due to the flashiness of others, such as the contrast between Frantz and Anokosha. 

After getting to the market, they separated and each went to the section with whatever they wanted to buy and the ones who wouldn’t buy anything just followed whoever they wanted to. Due to this, many little scenes happened, some deserving of mention while others not.

Susan and Siyabonga went to the snacks and drinks section, getting a bunch of cheese snacks and a few cans of soda while also making Atsuko and Gan confused since they spent quite a while comparing weights and prices. Anokosha went to sweets section to get some chocolate and had to stop Nikita from buying too many cookies. Rosa and Alvino just followed and watched them while this happened.

Frantz, Manuka, Bruno and Anatoly went to the alcohol sub-section next to the drinks and Krish just followed them. While the first three got a bunch of cans of beer, being excited for their first chance to drink it at a party, the deer got a small glass bottle of vodka for himself and one of liquor for Laís, who decided to not come with them and asked him to bring something for her.

Eric, Nathan and Kaikea went to the self-service area and got a paper bag full of roasted crickets and some mayo with ant powder added. Those things were in sale and most likely no one else would want to eat their stuff, since that combination was a recipe the echidna had created and the other two were fans of insect dishes. 

While all of this happened, Jing and Crisanto just stood in different lines so the others wouldn’t have to wait when they finished buying their stuff but also so they wouldn’t be a big disruption to a single line when they arrived. After getting surprised with the amount of stuff the others bought, everyone who was buying gave the necessary money and the items to the bat and the goat so it all could be payed in one go.

They then walked back to the campus, the lynx took advantage of the group being together and got all of their phone numbers. After this they went to their respective rooms, deciding to eat dinner before going to the rooftops. At around 20:00 another jingle started playing from the speakers and the voice of the principal could be heard. He said:

\- _Hello again dear students, the rooftops have now been opened and you are allowed to enjoy your very first or one of your now many noise nights as you desire. Now please, be careful and have fun!_

Susan called her friends to the rooftop of the school building, this time with her phone and found out that Anatoly talked to Laís and decided they would go alone to the female   
dorm building’s rooftop. She accepted it, assuming the maned wolf didn’t want to interact with them after what happened earlier that day. 

When she, Siyabonga and Atsuko got there before the rest of the group and decided to organize their things. The lion started playing songs on his speakers, but not loud enough to annoy the other students, the lynx and the tanuki then picked a few of the snacks from Susan’s bag and a can of soda for each of them.

The others slowly started arriving and sat on the floor with the trio, the first two being Anokosha and Nikita, who started chatting with Susan about “Deep Despair” again. 

Siyabonga got into the conversation too and Atsuko just stood there listening to them.

\- Oh, you two are also fans of that franchise? Sis here wouldn’t shut up about it back home and she’s been going at it for a few months now. (Siyabonga)

\- You should already be accustomed to it; you know I always do this when I get into a fandom. (Susan)

\- Yeah, but you never shut up about them. I’m in the fandom too, but the way you talk about the characters is way too much. (Siyabonga)

\- You only think that because you haven’t gotten to the special scene of the first chapter. (Susan)

\- Okay, maybe that’s the reason, but you should be talking to them about it now anyway, not me. (Siyabonga)

\- Fu-, dude, you’re the one who butted into the conversation to complain about me and now you’re saying that?! Okay, I will ignore you and talk to them. (Susan)

\- Pfff, are you two like this all the time? (Siyabonga)

\- Not all, but some of it. (Susan)

After this, others started to arrive and the place got more and more crowded, but never too full. Many jokes were done and a lot of laughter was heard, a few of the students asked Siyabonga to play a few specific songs, which led to a big range of what had to be heard, going from heavy metal to fancy instrumental.

Some of the students got high from algae brownies that Eric made and decided to sell, others like Manuka and Bruno were drunk and fighting, but still having fun. People there were having fun but the same couldn’t be said about the ones on the other rooftops. Only a few from the main group could be found there, since most of those students just wanted some quiet time around each other.

On top of the female building, Crisanto could be found observing everyone and scribbling on a sketchbook. Laís sat on the floor with Anatoly, the corner they were in made it so they couldn’t be seen by most of the people there. They were both drunk by this point and even though their conversation was normal while they were sober, they couldn’t hold their pain in this mental state.

\- Man, I can’t handle this anymore. I thought everythin’ would be different, I thought things would go just like papa said. But nOoOoo, I ‘ave to keep my persona! Fuck all of this. (Laís)

\- Yeah, I *hic* get how ya feel. I’m here just tryin’ to look cool, but I just keep being fucking coward… (Anatoly)

\- I don’ even know how this goddamn play is even going to help me be a model. At least I’m away from mama now. *sigh* I just wanna eat a burger and cry. (Laís)

\- We can… do that now. (Anatoly)

After a few seconds of staring tiredly into each other’s eyes, they got into a tight hug and had some minutes of crying. Then they got up and slowly walked away from the building, going to the entrance of the campus, ordering two burgers and eating them alone in the “Corner of Knowledge”.

Going back to the school building, everyone was having fun and someone shouted:

\- Yo, let’s start the noise now! (random student)

With this, Susan, Wamuiru, Manuka, Siyabonga, Gan and Nikita got up, along with a fox and a wolf. The lynx signaled to Jing for him to get up, he got confused but did so and then she said:

\- How about we start with a goat noise and finish with a chimera one? Are you two okay with that? (Susan)

\- Yeah… I think. (Jing)

\- I’m okay with being the final act. (Nikita)

\- Then let’s go! (Susan)

The goat let out a quiet bah, he looked at Susan for her approval but was instead startled and flustered by her response. She stared at him, her brother getting worried since he knew what that stare was. She pounced at Jing and hugged him.

\- W-wait! What are you d-doing?! (Jing)

\- I’m hugging you. That was just too cute for me. (Susan)

No one except her brother really understood why she did that, but after a few seconds she let go of him and announced:

\- Now everyone except Nikita, 1 2 3 and go! (Susan)

This was the trigger for the chaos, hellish growls and screams mixed with howls, distorted laughter and roars. All of them were looking at the same place, directing their noise at the sky. Along with their excitement, a few others joined with their hissing or squeaking. After they exhausted themselves, Susan said while out of breath:

\- Now *huff* now it’s your time, Nikita. (Susan)

The chimera proceeded to do a little cough and released unexpectedly impressive screeches; she had decided to take her own spin in it. In the middle of the screech, she turned it into and almost harmony singing-like feline roar. Everyone stood where they were, their faces filled with either awe or confusion. When she finished, a whole round of applause was done, giving her what she deserved.

This all lead to the appearance of students from the other rooftops, who heard everything and were fully impressed. This led to more interactions and more excitement, which in turn made people ask Nikita to do her roar again a few times. After they were all tired and had eaten their snacks and finished their drinks, most of them went to their dorms, with a few staying to clean and one of those being Susan. 

When everything was clean and her brother asked her to go down with him, she asked to stay for a bit longer. She stood there, alone and staring at the sky. After a few minutes, she looked at the beautiful full moon and said to herself quietly:

\- This is going to be an interesting new life.


End file.
